Buick Encore - Badge-Engineering Existentialism

Which came first: the car or the business case? That’s a timeless refrain at General Motors, where rebadging has produced hundreds of thousands of cars without a plausible sales pitch (see Cadillac Cimarron, Pontiac G3, Saab 9-2X, et al.). So excuse us for doubting a Buick crossover that is based on the same architecture as a Chevrolet subcompact, is engineered in Korea, and will be sold by Opel in Europe. It’s just that “The American dumping ground for Opels in the post-Saturn era” isn’t quite catchphrase material. Then we drove the Buick Encore and couldn’t help but like the little squirt.

Buick Encore

By combining uncommon smallness with upscale aspirations, the Encore evades direct competition. The BMW XI is longer, lower, and snappier, but it also has a base price that’s $6595 higher. The Mini Countryman and the Nissan Juke come close in size and price but have their own aesthetic baggage. It’s likely, then, that the Encore’s closest competitors will be larger but less luxurious alternatives like the Ford Escape, the Mazda CX-5, and the Volkswagen Tiguan.

From the inside, passengers won’t necessarily recognize how small the Encore is. Excellent forward visibility keeps the cabin from feeling crowded, although you might elbow your passenger on occasion. The turbocharged 1.4-liter from the Chevrolet Sonic is under the hood, but the Encore’s 400-pound weight penalty means acceleration is undeniably tepid. And despite tall gearing that’s meant to deliver mpg instead of mph, the fuel economy of the portly Encore is unexceptional, coming in at an EPA-rated 25/33 mpg city/highway in front-wheel-drive configuration.

With a simple suspension setup of struts in front and a torsion-beam axle in the rear, the Encore nevertheless achieves a masterful balance between refined ride quality and taut body control, as if it had been developed in Germany, not Korea. During cornering, the Encore leans only minimally and remains steadfastly planted on the asphalt. We were even more surprised by the steering action, which increases in effort at speed with superb linearity.

The Encore shares underpinnings with the Chevrolet Sonic and Spark, yet it makes a convincing Buick. The interior is smartly packaged save for the overabundance of buttons on the center console.

Impressive driving manners are a powerful endorsement, but the Encore’s strongest selling point actually comes down to size by way of value. If you can afford to sacrifice some interior space compared to an Escape, the Encore will reward you with a more opulent cabin and more convenience features for a similar price. Starting at $24,950, the Buick comes standard with a seven-inch color display, a rear view camera, Bluetooth connectivity, a USB audio input, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, and eighteen-inch wheels. You can buy more car for less money but not with this level of luxury.

Buick Encore’s interior

Buick might have been better served by a crossover with a larger footprint, yet the petite Encore seems just as capable of fulfilling its duties as a mid-size vehicle. So which came first: the car or the business case? The Encore works well enough that the more important question might be: does it matter?